Lorraine Williamson
Police in Spain say they have broken up a travelling criminal group accused of carrying out two explosive ATM robberies in Granada province, stealing more than €140,000 in a single night. The arrests were announced on Monday after a joint operation by the Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil.
According to the police statement, six people were arrested as part of the operation, known as Taglio, and two of those suspects are also being linked to seven other ATM robberies in Burgos, Guadalajara, Valladolid, Albacete, Toledo and Cuenca.
One night, two attacks, more than €140,000 stolen
Investigators say the case began in June 2024 after two cash machines were targeted on the same night in Granada province — one in Santa Fe and the other in Granada city. In both cases, the attackers allegedly inserted explosive charges into the cash dispensing slot to blast open the machine and access the money containers inside. Police say the group stole more than €140,000 from those two raids alone.
That detail gives the story more weight than a routine arrest note. These were not opportunistic thefts, according to investigators, but highly deliberate attacks using explosives and a method that police describe as the “paleta del pizzero” technique.
A mobile gang operating across Spain
Police say the suspected gang was based in Madrid and Valencia and travelled from those cities to the provinces where the raids were carried out. Before each attack, they allegedly stole vehicles to use both for the journey and for the robbery itself, later abandoning them after escaping with the cash. Investigators say the suspects acted with their faces covered and returned immediately to their home bases after the robberies.
That mobile pattern helps explain why the case stretched far beyond Granada. Officers believe at least two of the arrested suspects were involved in a wider series of ATM attacks in several other Spanish provinces, giving the case a broader national security angle rather than leaving it as a purely local crime story. This is an inference based on the police statement linking two suspects to seven additional ATM robberies outside Granada.
Simultaneous arrests in Madrid and Valencia
Once the alleged members of the organisation had been identified, police moved in at the same time in both cities. According to the statement, three people were arrested in Madrid and three in Valencia.
Searches linked to the operation also led to the seizure of a firearm, €1,700 in cash, 1.9 kilograms of hashish acorns, and two professional rescue shears. Police have not yet publicly detailed whether all of the seized material was directly connected to the ATM attacks themselves, but the haul suggests investigators were dealing with a group they considered both organised and well-equipped. This second sentence is an inference based on the official seizure list.
Why the case matters in Granada
For Granada, the arrests close the loop on a case that began with two violent cash machine attacks and ended with a much larger suspected network under investigation. Although ATM robberies no longer dominate headlines in the way they once did, explosive attacks on machines remain among the more dangerous forms of property crime because of the risk they pose not only to bank property but also to nearby businesses, residents and passers-by. This is an inference based on the use of explosive charges in urban and semi-urban settings.
The police operation also highlights the continued value of joint investigations between national and regional forces when crimes cross provincial lines. In this case, what started with two raids in Granada province ended with arrests in two other major Spanish cities and links to attacks across much of the country.
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A local crime story with a national reach
For readers in Andalucia, the immediate headline is simple: the suspects accused of blowing open two ATMs in Granada province are now in custody. But the wider picture is what makes the case stand out. Investigators believe the same network, or at least key members of it, may have been operating across Spain using stolen vehicles, explosive methods and rapid cross-country movements to stay ahead of police.
That gives this story a bigger dimension than a standard robbery report. It is also a reminder that some of the most disruptive crimes affecting local communities are not always local in origin. In Granada’s case, the alleged perpetrators appear to have arrived from elsewhere, struck quickly, and disappeared just as fast — until the investigation caught up with them.